Do you really need a tablet? And which size is right for you?

A better strategy is to buy yourself a better phone or laptop with the money you'd spend on a tablet.

As a single user, if you own a smartphone of about 5 inches or more, and a laptop with an 11 or 13 inch screen, there’s little use for a tablet.

Computers changed our homes and office. Smartphones changed how we move about. Tablets… well, tablets are nice. But they aren’t essential. You might want one and it can be useful, but tablets are rarely a “must-have” item.

As a single user, if you own a smartphone of about 5 inches or more, and a laptop with an 11 or 13 inch screen, there’s little use for a tablet. It’s nice to have it, but you aren’t going to do much with it. It’ll soon become ornamental. A better strategy is to buy yourself a better phone or laptop with the money you’d spend on a tablet.

The common logic is that the excellent battery life of tablets makes them the perfect travel companions for professionals. There is some truth to that, but it’s difficult to get work done on tablets with the same level of quality or ease that you do with a laptop. Charge your laptop more consistently and your tablet’s battery life on those trips becomes redundant.

E-readers don’t have colour, so if you want to read a comic book or a web article with illustrated graphics and videos, a tablet is a better experience. But if books is all you want, stick with a Kindle.

Best With: 7-inch or 8-inch Tablets

Large tablets get difficult to hold with one hand for a long time, because they are too heavy. Skip that, stick with the smaller ones if reading is what you primarily want a tablet for. My personal preference is 8-inch tabs.

Playing Hi-Def Games

Tablets display your favourite mobile games on a larger screen, so it’s a more immersive gaming experience. It’s also far better to play games that require multi-touch input on these bigger screens.

Best With: 10-inch Tablets

Games will guzzle up your battery, and it’s tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the iPad Air which have the room to fit mammoth battery backups. Plus, with screens for games, the bigger the better.

Kids!

If you have kids, tablets are awesome. Like a laptop screen is big enough for you, tablet screens are big enough for kids. Plus, there are plenty of apps—both educational and entertaining— to keep kids occupied.

Best With: Any Size

Don’t overthink it, buy the best tablet for your budget, irrespective of size.